Former Mayor Suing Townspeople For Failing to Welcome Migrants

hamon jp/Wikimedia CommonsVIRGINIA HALE1 Oct 2016

Jean-Jacques Lacoste is suing residents of the town he once served as mayor for “incitement to racial hatred” after spotting posters complaining that the resettlement of migrants squatting in Calais to the commune will bring crime and antisocial behaviour.

The Socialist former mayor said he was “shocked” to see the flyers in the Normandy commune of Bretteville-sur-Laize.

Titled “No to the reception centre”, the notices appear in several shop windows. Underneath reads: “migrants with nothing to do in Bretteville = incivility, theft, assault, rape, loss of value to our businesses and our property”.

Mr Lacoste was “appalled” to discover the posters, which call on residents to sign a petition to stop migrants from being moved from the so-called “jungle” camp at Calais to the Normandy commune.

The former mayor took photographs of the offending notices and declared that he intends to sue their authors for discrimination and incitement to racial hatred.

“I was shocked”, the socialist said of his reaction to the posters. “Together we will show our brotherhood to the migrants when they come. I am sorry that such excesses occur in this town where I choose to live”, Lacoste added.

Francetvreported that locals at the Val de Laize café were unhappy about the fact migrants will soon be moving into the commune, Francetv reported.

“These people… We will accommodate them free of charge. We will give them money, while our young people have nothing!” one customer told a reporter.

Current mayor, Bruno François held a meeting Wednesday night to break the news to residents of the town of 1,500 will take 30 to 40 migrants from the so-called “jungle” camp at Calais. The migrants will be moved into a former retirement home nearby.

On Monday, president François Hollande confirmed that the government will be dismantling the so-called “jungle” migrant camp in Calais. People living outside of the cities in France have largely responded with hostility to the news that migrants are to be resettled in their regions.

Earlier this month residents of Saint-Denis-de-Cabanne in the Loire reacted with horror upon learning migrants will be moving into a waterfront castle which serves the commune as a holiday center.

Meeting in the town hall to discuss the arrangements, residents expressed concern over the prospect migrants could bring robbery and rape to the normally safe and picturesque French region.